Occupy Wall Street: protests and reaction – Thursday 6 October 2011

New York police used pepper spray to control protesters on yesterday's Wall Street march, with further accusations of heavyhanded tactics after the mass arrests on Brooklyn Bridge.
Meanwhile the occupy demonstrations are spreading across the US, with a large protest planned in Washington DC.

A senior New York police officer swings his baton to try and stop protesters from entering Wall Street on 5 October 2011. Further protests are planned in Washington DC today Photograph: Craig Ruttle/AP

10am: An estimated 15,000 protesters marched through Lower Manhattan last night as Occupy Wall Street demonstrators were joined by representatives from unions for a solidarity march.

Despite the march being legal, and initially good natured, there were again ugly scenes as police kettled protesters before using pepper spray and batons to control the crowd.

Video footage posted to Youtube showed officers swinging batons at protesters at around 9pm. The march had left Foley Square at 4.30pm, marching towards the Occupy Wall Street site at Zuccotti Park, but due to the number of protesters streets around the area became blocked.

Protesters and reporters confirmed the use of pepper spray by police, with journalists apparently also being targeted. Reporters from Fox News – which has drawn the ire of protesters for what they see as biased, and inadequate coverage of Occupy Wall Street, were among those complaining of ill treatment:

Fox 5's Isen and Brennan were there and witnessed the chaos. At one point, Brennan was hit in the abdomen by a police baton and Isen got irritant in his eyes. Both journalists were all right and continued to cover the protests and arrests.

For the second time in less than a week, questions are being asked about the tactics of the New York police department, as demonstrations continue to spread across the US. An occupation inspired by the events at Wall Street is planned for Washington DC today, with protesters aiming to gather in Freedom Plaza to protest against corporate greed and also mark the 10th anniversary of the war in Afghanistan. Smaller demonstrations are also planned elsewhere in the country.

We'll have the latest as the movement grows, but also we want your stories. Were you marching on Wall Street last night? How do you think the police handled the demonstration? Are you entering occupation today?

Share your experiences, videos and photos on Twitter @AdamGabbatt, on email or in the comments section below.

10.19am: Associated Press writes that concerns over heavyhanded police treatment "may be renewed after a disturbance about 8 pm Wednesday as a march was breaking up".

The police said they arrested eight protesters at one location, after people rushed barriers and began spilling into the street. While a couple of witnesses said that officers used pepper spray to clear the streets, the Police Department's chief spokesman said that one officer "possibly" used it. Several protesters were also arrested at another location at 9.30pm

10.38am: The YouTube user who published the video below has published a second, extended version of the footage.

The second video has an extra 20 seconds before the police officer in the white shirt begins swinging his baton, and appears to show a concerted effort by what appears to be a small group of protesters to break through police lines. At one point a protester seems to try to grab an officer's hat before the line of demonstrators is pushed back – it is then that the white-shirted officer starts to lash out.

The footage begins with the crowd shouting "5,4,3,2,1" before pushing forward. It gives a different impression of the tactics used by police. Were a section of the protesters at fault?

11.01am: Karen McVeigh is with protesters at Zuccotti Park – where she says many people are still sleeping after a busy night – and reports that there are "mixed reactions" to yesterday's arrests.

Brian Phillips, a former Marine, said that, following Wednesday's march, a crowd of protesters wanting to go to Wall Street were urged against it by others.

"There were these guys just got up and did a mic check and said: 'We're marching to Wall St' and we had people booing and doing their down fingers and stuff. But they still went.

"There's a lot of people here who are upset about it. It's enough to have a march of 30,000people there's no reason to continue marching. We had the numbers we got the attention."

He said a small minority went looking for trouble.

"I look at it this way - it got rid of the bad ones. Let them weed themselves out."

Phillips said he has a lot of sympathy for the police.

"There are better ways to deal with people besides batons and mace but these guys are human. They are just doing their jobs doing what they are told. I've been in that position as a marine. When they take their uniforms off they are just like us. The police have told us that we just need to communicate with them. I told people that and I got booed. It upsets me they are saying they won't work with the police."

11.21am: Barack Obama is holding a news conference at the White House, and is asked about the Occupy Wall Street demonstration.

He says he is following the movement.

"I think people are frustrated and the protesters are giving voice to a more broadbase frustration about how our financial system works."

He says the country needs to have "a strong financial sector in order for the economy to grow". It was right to ensure banks stayed afloat – otherwise the damage to the US economy would have been even worse.

But a healthy financial system should not be competing on the basis of "hidden fees, deceptive prices".

11.27am: Obama says he will fight "every step of the way" to ensure there is a consumer watchdog which is ensuring the financial sector is regulated.

"We need to ensure banks are lending to small businesses and individuals fairly. "Until the American people see that happening there is going to be frustration."

"The American people understand that not everybody is following the rules. Wall Street is an example of that," he adds.

"These days a lot of folks doing the right thing aren't rewarded, and a lot of folks not doing the right thing are rewarded."

11.31am: Obama is asked why his administration has not done more to prosecute people working in the financial sector responsible for the crisis.

He says the problem is a lot of things people were doing are not illegal – just "immoral".

"Part of people's frustration, part of my frustration, is that a lot of practices going on weren't against the law."

11.43am: Salon writer Justin Elliot discusses what Mike Bloomberg's next move could be in his blog:

The billionaire mayor has not exactly taken a friendly view of the protesters, telling them last week not to get too comfortable (and also citing some plainly inaccurate data about Wall St. salaries). On Wednesday I interviewed Councilman Peter Vallone, chair of the Public Safety Committee, who had floated the idea to WNYC that the cost of the police presence downtown is straining the city budget. I asked him for specifics — how much money has been spent — and he said he doesn't have any hard numbers at this point. He also said he had not heard complaints from the NYPD about the situation.

"Right now we're facing an increased terror threat based on revenge after the recent drone strike [on Anwar al-Awlaki]. This is really putting a huge strain on our police department," Vallone said, adding: "The police department and the mayor are well aware of the money that it's costing taxpayers. They will have to decide at what point they can place reasonable limits on the size and location of the protest."

Bloomberg and the NYPD brass have probably realized at this point that any action to evict the protesters will only help the movement grow — witness the media interest following the pepper-spraying incident two weeks ago, and the Brooklyn Bridge mass arrests on Saturday. So I'd bet they're hoping for the thing will peter out.

11.57am: Karen writes from Zuccotti that "some protesters said that although emotions had been running high after the 20,000 strong march, police did not handle themselves well".

Melanie Massier

Melanie Massier, 20, from Boston, said; "there were a lot of fired up people. It was an amazing day. I've never seen so many people marching together. I didn't go to Wall St but I was there when people came back I've seen videos of what happened. Cops were macing people and arresting them. It takes all the strength in your body not to want to jump over the barrier and hit back."

In an interview at the Ideas Forum, David Gregory asked Joe Biden question that got the crowd tittering: "Do you stand in solidarity" with the Occupy Wall Street protests?

"Look," said Biden, talking over the "ooohs" and murmurs, "that's a really fair question. Let's be honest with one another. What is the core of that protest? The core is: The bargain has been breached. The core is, the American people do not think the system is fair, or on the level. That is the core is what you're seeing with Wall Street. Look, there's a lot in common with the Tea Party. The Tea Party started, why? TARP. They thought it was unfair."

Biden continued on, trying to suss out why people would be so angry at banks. He took the example of Bank of America's debit card fee hike, which the company has blamed as a necessity, a reaction to swap fee reform legislation.

"The middle class folks, these guys with the debit cards, are on their back. And we're gonna charge 'em $5 to use the cards? At minimum, they are totally tone-deaf."

12.21pm: There's been some talk among media commentators about how Occupy Wall Street compares to the Tea Party, but as yet no one appears quite sure where the similarities and differences lie. Enter Joe Biden, who believes the two "have a lot in common".

12.47pm: Clip from the Daily Show on the protests – the best bit is 3.22 in, contrasting Fox News's Sean Hannity's 2009 praise for the Tea Party ("they are expressing their frustration, which I think is quintessentially American") with his views on Occupy Wall Street ("they really don't like freedom").

1.05pm: Below the line lesbiches asks about the donation by the investment bank JP Morgan Chase donation to the NY police federation.

Is there any truth to the rumours that the banks - JP Morgan and goldman sachs - have made large (millions) of donations to the NYPD in recent weeks?

I keep hearing that rumour on comments boards - can someone there verify? It would certainly be a shocking indiaction of the state of the control over our democracies if these stories had any truth.

It is true in the case of JP Morgan Chase. The amount was $4.6m – "the largest in the history" of the New York police foundation, according to JP Morgan Chase's website.

Full statement:

JPMorgan Chase recently donated an unprecedented $4.6 million to the New York City Police Foundation. The gift was the largest in the history of the foundation and will enable the New York City Police Department to strengthen security in the Big Apple. The money will pay for 1,000 new patrol car laptops, as well as security monitoring software in the NYPD's main data center.

New York City Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly sent CEO and Chairman Jamie Dimon a note expressing "profound gratitude" for the company's donation.

"These officers put their lives on the line every day to keep us safe," Dimon said. "We're incredibly proud to help them build this program and let them know how much we value their hard work."

I can't find anything on Goldman Sachs making donations to police – beyond articles saying they donated $4.6m, which I would guess is due to confusion over who made the donation. Will keep looking, though.

Hundreds of protesters have gathered in Northwest DC to take on corporate greed and other issues in a rally mirroring similar events across the country.

The group gathered at Freedom Plaza near the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center also is protesting cuts to Social Security and calling for economic reform and the end of America's war conflicts.

The assembly has been organized by a group called "October 2011" and is separate from the Occupy D.C. movement, which is protesting at McPherson Square a few blocks away. But the groups are expected to merge later today.

There also is a march to the White House planned.

I went down after work yesterday and thought the atmosphere was very chill, no tension at all. The police were fairly relaxed, and everything went smoothly until I left around 8.00 or so. I did notice, however, that it was started to get a little edgy when I left for the R subway on the west side of the park, there was a traffic jam of people, and people were trying to enter the park on that side and not being allowed in. But they were reasonable crowd-control measures, as far as I could see. But as I say, this was early.

Other than that, I can say as a veteran of these things (I'm 60) that the march had a real spontaneous spirit, tons of hand-lettered signs, that sort of thing. I felt that it is tapping into a widespread sense of anger and discouragement and lack of an outlet to express oneself given that Obama is so much in the pocket of the banks. There was nothing directed at him, but it is interesting to see that there was no mention of politicians at all, just banksters like Blankfein et al. And the main chant, Banks got bailed out, We got sold out, reflects this attitude, that we are on our own and no one represents us. This is bad news for Obama, but it means that no one is looking to the electoral system to resolve anything. I find that significant.

My favorite sign: "I'll believe corporations are people when the state of Georgia executes one."

Given Obama's recent embrace of "class warfare" and today's call from Senate Democrats for a 5 percent surtax on millionaires, is an alliance between Democrats and the Occupy movement possible?

No, or at least not without Democrats renouncing the influence Wall Street holds on them, as well.

You don't have to dig deep to find evidence of that relationship. Former Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee chairman Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) has long been "one of the biggest beneficiaries of Wall Street money that Congress [has] ever seen," and, in turn, Schumer pushed hard to deregulate the financial industry before the 2008 crash and then bailout said financiers afterwards. When Congress debated financial reform last May, House Democratic Chief Deputy Whip Ron Kind (D-Wis.) told a gathering of financial lobbyists, "We're working hard with you to get the policy right." And, of course, President Obama chose Larry Summers and Tim Geithner as his chief economic advisers, despite their long records of Wall Street ties and favoritism. The surtax on millionaires that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid announced on Wednesday replaces Obama's proposals to tax not only a broader swath of wealthy individuals, but also oil and gas corporations.

Indeed, Democratic support for Wall Street was one of the major motivations behind Occupy Wall Street in the first place. When you read the heartbreaking "We are the 99 percent" Tumblr and you listen to the protesters, you don't hear frustration with Republicans. The frustration is with Washington. And if Democrats want to work with the Occupy movement (or, indeed, make the "Republicans are the party of the rich" attack really work), they'll have to undertake root-and-branch reform of their party's relationship with Wall Street.

4.04pm: CNN has come out in support of its reporter Erin Burnett, who has been accused of delivering biased coverage of the Wall Street protests.

So I went and looked at the Occupy DC protests. A small, well behaved crowd of 200 - 300 protesters have walked from Freedom Plaza to chant outside the US Chamber of Commerce headquarters across the road from Lafayette Square: "Where's our jobs!"

A few Ron Paul supporters and more "troops out" signs but the bulk of the group have signs about jobs.

The Chamber of Commerce has spent a lot of money on lobbying and campaigning against tax increases and climate change legislation, among other things.

Gruben is part of the media team at Occupy Wall Street, and says he is participating in the protest "because I have foresight, I can see where the world is going and what it is going to resemble if I don't help do something about it".

Here's his account of what happened prior to the incident you can see on film:

After an inspiring (non-violent) speech from Michael Moore some people decided to do a late night march on Wall St. When we got there the street was barricaded and cops were in front. The group then held a general assembly (sitting on the ground) to come to a decision as to what the group was going to do. The group decided to push on the barricades to try and get on Wall St. The rest is what you saw on tape.

I do want to stress that this was a small group compared to the huge numbers that were at Zucotti Park. The occupy Wall St movement is non-violent to its core, and it is going to stay that way.

Gruben says he is currently editing a film charting the occupy movement from the beginning – we'll post it here when finished.

5.30pm: This coverage is now wrapping up for the day. I'll be back tomorrow with the latest developments around the protests in New York and elsewhere. Thanks for reading.